Salerno – places to stay

There are many good places to stay in Salerno as befits such a popular tourist destination. Please don’t consider this a definitive guide, it’s just my personal experience of a few places that I’ve either stayed at or heard about.

As I mentioned earlier, the hotel my employer uses is the Hotel Bruman at 30 Piazza Vittorio Veneto, www.hotelbrumansalerno.it. It’s partly owned by a former area manager of mine who I know quite well. The staff are friendly and helpful, the breakfast is pretty decent and the rooms and wifi are fine, however there’s no lift so you might need a hand with your luggage up a couple of flights.

We used to stay at the Grand Hotel Salerno at 1 Via Lungomare Tafuri, www.grandhotelsalerno.it which is a very modern four star hotel with its own helipad! I loved it because it has a gym (open from 8am) and a 22 metre pool in the basement (ppen 10am-1pm, 4-8pm). There’s also a sun deck on the top floor.

However the views from the rooms are quite variable. The spacious odd-numbered rooms at the front and side have fantastic vistas of the sea and the town, but you might want to pass on the even-numbered rabbit hutches at the back, unless you are a train spotter. I also found the reception staff to be quite snooty and the maids are a law unto themselves.

I’m told that back in the good old days we were billeted at the even more opulent five star Lloyd’s Baia Hotel at 2 Via Enrico de Marinis, www.lloydsbaiahotel.it but it’s a bit of a walk to town due to its cliff-top position, so many of my colleagues complained about it. It’s much better to be centrally located I think.

At the other end of the scale, the Hostel Ave Gratia Plena on Via dei Canali (on the right halfway up as you walk up), www.ostellodisalerno.it looks like a nice place to stay, at least if the lovely water feature in the picture is anything to go by. It’s a former convent that has been converted to a hostel.